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Battle of Cliffside
The Battle of Cliffside was a battle that occured during the NCR Arizona Offensive and was the last battle of the NCR campaign into the Grand Canyon. It occured sometime after the Battle of the Grand Canyon where NCR Forces lead by General Lee Oliver engaged legion forces that were in retreat after they lost control over the region and decided to fall back and regroup with other camps instead. Background On April 11th of 2282, NCR Forces along with their allies launched a series of offensive operations into the Grand Canyon in what would become the Battle of the Grand Canyon. The battle was a tactical victory for the NCR as they secured control over most of the Grand Canyon and expelled most of the legion forces, but not all of them were gone. The Legion commander, Valerius, previously thought killed in an ambush by Supai tribesmen at Tapeats Creek, was still alive and he lead the remainder of his forces in retreat to regroup with other Legion camps in hopes of replenishing their ranks and tried to launch an offensive to take back lost territory. An NCR scout found out about this and reported it to his superiors to which General Oliver responded by sending in the NCR Rangers and they eventually attacked the retreating Legion forces. Battle On April 19th, 2282, A 20-man squad of NCR Rangers and First Recon Snipers were led into ambush positions by a party of seven Supai insurgents who knew the area, to a position on the Canyon Rim near the settlement of Cliffside, located to the west of previous operations in the canyon which would prove ideal for ambushing the retreating Legion troops. The NCR special forces lay hidden in the position for roughly six hours before Legion Forces were sighted. In spite of his discarding his distinctive helmet, having given it to the body double killed at Tapeats Creek a few days previously, Valerius was identified leading a group of about 40 Legion soldiers, the rest of his forces having split up to deliver a message to scattered Legion forces to regroup for a counter-attack. When the NCR special forces and Supai insurgents opened fire, Valerius and the other Legion infantry were caught completely by surprise and killed before they could effectively fighting back. 19 Legion soldiers, including Valerius, were killed in the engagement, while the rest fled into the canyon. The body of Valerius was later recovered, having been struck by at least seven bullets, including standard NCR-issue rounds as well as ammunition from a rifle used by one of the Supai warriors. As such, it is unclear who actually fired the fatal shot. As such, the Supai tribe will maintain on of their own scored the kill, while the NCR will point the superior marksmanship training of the Rangers and First Recon, making it far more likely that it was an NCR soldier who fired the fatal shot. After the ambush, Legion forces were scattered and left without a leader, allowing NCR forces to easily isolate and pick off the remaining Legion forces in the canyon, who were typically divided into groups of no more than 25. While the Legion holdouts managed to ambush NCR patrols on a few occasions, managing to kill 12 NCR soldiers and wound 32, while the Legion lost 128 troops, with the 214 being taken prisoner. Aftermath The battle ended in a decisive victory for the NCR. The Cliffside base was later captured by the NCR and used as a military base and recon outpost to monitor all known activity in the Grand Canyon. With Valerious dead along with most of the legion forces, the slaver army was forced to withdraw from the Grand Canyon and abandoned it all together following the destruction of all legion camps and settlements in the area. With the Grand Canyon gone, Caesar's Legion had lost a major strategic asset and could no longer send troops through the Grand Canyon behind NCR lines, leaving them open to a series of surprise attacks from the NCR and their allied factions over the course of the conflict. Category:Battles Category:Events